Nothing In N-Scale From Rapido

[Philip H]

Truth. It's the reason why I continue to wish Rapido would do something to write them a four figure check.

They took such good care of Mike in his last year I can't help but root for them every chance I get.

I'm in for a couple of the new N scale buses since i rode those to go railfanning as a kid.

[Kerbe Neun]

Rumor has it they’ll be changing their name soon to reflect an emphasis on HO and lack of interest in N. 

Rapidho Trais.   


The Dash 8 was decent.  The Canadian a real disappointment. 

Kerbe….

[bbussey]

The snark seems ill-placed.  How was the Canadian a disappointment?  Yes, there was a wheel problem, but that was easily fixed via a number of methods.  I bought the D&H dome, and it's exquisite.  They combined the best elements of the popular battery-powered Easy Peazy lighting and pulling from track power by making a hybrid system that charges from the track yet still has a magnetic reed switch to turn the lights off.  I fixed my rolling problem by filing down the detail over the axles, since I don't run my cars upside-down.  I would grab an obs in CP Rail Action Red if one became available, just to have it.  Rapido by far has had way more hits than misses, especially in N.

This is "model railroading" and not "model railroad accumulation."  To get a full consist of a distinct specific prototype that visually is 100% spot-on (in multiple era configurations and schemes) and is 98% there operational-wise that requires five minutes per car to fix — most railroad-specific modelers would take that in a half a heartbeat.  A Merchants Limited, or a Yankee Clipper, or a Senator, even if I had to do some minor work to make the wheels roll?  Sign me up now.

[Kerbe Neun]

The Canadian is nice looking, no doubt.   Operationally, not so much.  They are not free rolling even after the fix.   The couplers were lousy.  I replaced them with Micro Trains.  Plus, one of the coaches had to be sent in for repair as it had a short. 

Kerbe

[bbussey]

Depends on what free-rolling fix you employed and how well you did it.

You changed the couplers out to MTLs, so that issue was resolved.

And they repaired or replaced the malfunctioning car, correct?

I don’t see the problem. As I stated earlier, I fixed the axle clearance in my car and it now rolls like marbles on glass. You have an N scale prototypically-accurate and complete Canadian consist in the era of your choice (both decoration-wide and details-wise) that you didn’t have to scratchbuild or kitbash, and you’re peeved that you had to do a little work to have it run smoothly?  There are a ton of modelers who have a favorite passenger consist who never will have that luxury. Yes, it would have been cool to take the consist out of the box and put it on the rails and have it run flawlessly. But it’s not like you had to reengineer a locomotive to get it to run let alone run reliably.

I watched a YouTube review of the Canadian where the experienced modeler outlined the changes needed that you sited, but fully praised the consist and clearly presented that, with some minor work, the product is an excellent effort.  Again, it’s actual modeling over accumulating. 

[Dwight in Toronto]

I’m with Kerbe on this one, and, if anything, he would have been justified in being even more snarky!

And yes, bbussey is equally correct in praising how The Canadian is beautifully rendered - there is no arguing that both the coaches and the F9’s are gorgeous to behold. I admire my ABA-equipped ten car set pretty much every day.  But purchasers acquired these models at premium pricing, and the majority of us had the totally realistic expectation that they would run as nicely as they looked. As Kerbe, and many others have pointed out, this was nowhere near the reality of it.

The fact that these expensive coaches left the factory in such deplorable rolling condition, and that they needed ANY corrective measure at all (let alone 2 or 3 fixes) right out of the box, is inexcusable.  Even after Rapido “fixed” my coaches to be “as good as can be done”, they remain rather lacklustre.  A single F9 can’t pull all 10 Rapido cars, but has no trouble at all pulling all 12 of my Kato Morning Daylight coaches.

Shall I continue?  The lighted coaches are nice, but the flickering is distracting. At this price point, anti-flicker capacitors should have been included. And the dome/observation coach has the opposite problem - you need to turn the end-of-train lighting on with the magic magnetic wand, but it’s only a matter of time before THOSE lights flicker too, and revert to their ‘normally off’ state.

And the locomotives aren’t stellar performers either.  I’ve got two. One has been commendably reliable. The other, not so much (occasional deadspots/shutdowns/jerky operation, even total PowerCab short circuit reboots).  There is also a known harmonics-plagued noise distraction (see Grant Eastman’s corrective surgery video, if you’ve got a strong stomach).

To say that all of this constitutes “model railroading and not model railroad accumulation” is just, well, nevermind … I’ll refrain from letting the snark out on that one.

[squirrelhunter]

I thought about buying a Skyline Dome and one of the 3 car sets to run with a E unit as a short train for shows and was put off by the high cost for something that wasn't one of my core interests- I'd have been pretty upset about the reported rolling qualities at the price point. You can't charge a premium price point for equipment that needs major work to run and expect people to be happy about. Same with BLI and their Centipedes and P5A's.

[bbussey]

The BLI Centipede I cannot attest to, but the Canadian issues definitely are not akin to the P5a issues. The P5a requires major work to get it functional — including replacement of the center driver wheelset so that the tire reaches the rail top, and increasing the electrical pickup to more than just the one main driver wheelset.

And for every Rapido N scale “disappointment”, I can name four times as many Rapido overwhelming successes.

[Kerbe Neun]

I’m reasonably pleased with the Canadian after the fixes and repair.  Rapido fixed the one Coach under warranty. 

I expected more for the price is my primary complaint.  Poor quality assurance. 

It does roll decent now and two 4 axle locos will pull 10 + 3 consist.  It’s not as free rolling as, say, Kato. 

I’m just waiting on the Via F40’s now.
 
Kerbe

[cv_acr]

HO is a bigger market than N. It just is.

I don't see much point in complaining that Rapido makes more products in HO vs. N, as that market is just better for them and just makes business sense.

But as noted, their popular projects in HO do generally also make it to N (Procor tank, SP boxcar, F40PHs, "Canadian" train, plus as someone else mentioned, the 3800cuft cylindrical and 52' gondola via Prairie Shadows (and the CN caboose and 52' flatcar they did for Prairie Shadows in N only (though HO versions existed from other manufacturers).

[bbussey]

I’m reasonably pleased with the Canadian after the fixes and repair.  Rapido fixed the one Coach under warranty. 

I expected more for the price is my primary complaint.  Poor quality assurance. 

It does roll decent now and two 4 axle locos will pull 10 + 3 consist.  It’s not as free rolling as, say, Kato. 

I’m just waiting on the Via F40’s now.

The Kato models in general are more free-rolling, that is true.  Most of the detail though is not free-standing.  The models have truck-mounted couplers and clearance in the car ends for coupler swing.

The Rapido models have extensively more detail inside and out and the painting/printing is more complex.  Nearly all of the detail is free-standing, including all the underbody detail.  The models have body-mounted couplers with full end yoke detail under the car ends.

The "poor quality assurance" is the exception rather than the rule.  It's not as if every Rapido model release has a high quality complaint rate.  Yes, there were issues with the Canadian.  They weren't insurmountable and the company stood behind the product.  Yes, it was pricey.  But it consisted of two diesels and at least 10 cars with multiple add-on sets.  That's going to be expensive.  When broken down on a per-car cost, it was reasonable.

I understand some disappointment when a highly-anticipated product has some issues straight out of the box.  But the fact that modelers overwhelmingly are positive about the project indicates the issues were minor overall.

[sirenwerks]

The fact that these expensive coaches left the factory in such deplorable rolling condition...

What?  They resist rolling?  Isn't that prototypical?  Unless on a grade, real rail cars don't roll 'freely' because of weight and other resistance factors.  Chalk this up to Rapido's commitment to prototypicalism, eh. 


Now where are my early paint scheme GP20s?  I hope they don't leak when I fill them up...

[Angus Shops]

I have 2 Rapido Canadian sets (1 for ‘The Canadian’ (in CP’s time ‘The’ was part of the trains name) and one, with additions and deletions, for my Dominion) and I am 100% happy with them. Keep in mind I am a dedicated CP modeller and I have spent most of my modelling career (which, as I think about it, has now achieved it’s Golden Jubilee - 50 years) trying to model a suitable version of The Canadian, so I have pretty high standards. At one point while waiting for Rapido’s Canadian to arrive I was concerned that my life would loose it’s meaning when my quest for a decent Canadian was fulfilled, but I’m happy to report that I have found that not to be the case.

I accept the Rapido’s version is not perfect, and I wonder how Rapido would get so far into production and not notice there was an issue with rolling quality. However, this problem is easily fixed and my Canadian cars roll as well as any other cars. I also find that some of the fine detail parts come loose and the little red tail light on the roof of the Park car only appeared in Via’s time. And the drumhead sign should probably be on a red background. And while I’m at it, I find that the choice to include name plates that correspond to the length of the car’s name a bit problematic because they then need to be separate pieces, which makes them more prominent on the car side than they should be. And the couplers need to be fiddled with. I am not a fan of car lighting so I also disabled the lighting by removing the conductor springy things while I was fixing the rolling quality problem and adjusting the springs. Overall I find this product is as near to perfect as can be expected. I really don’t have a problem with the fact that I spent $1,400.00 and then had to take about 2 hours to make a few minor adjustments.

I have bigger issues with their FP9’s however - I don’t think it’s reasonable that I should need to disassemble their complex locomotive to fix a real and fundamental mechanical issue that should not have left the factory door. But I will - when I get my nerve up. And I think the grey is too dark…

(Update: after writing the above, I went downstairs and took my Rapido FP’s out for some exercise - bottom line is they run fine but make a lot of unecessary noises. Still not great, but maybe I’ll soften my opinion a bit…)

I also have some of Rapido’s smooth side (CN) sleepers decorated is American road names to be used on my version of the Mountaineer train, and a fleet of Prairie Shadows ‘Canadian’ gondolas. I hope that Rapido does more N scale stuff - an N scale H16-44 would be appreciated…

About Kato… Kato has a reputation, mostly deserved, for being the Gold Standard in N scale. But they’re not perfect either. While their locomotives generally run flawlessly, I will note that, in my opinion, the detail on the bodies is not up to standard. I’ll also note that I can really only speak about their F units, ‘cause that’s the only model that fits my prototype and era. The handrails are so ‘to scale’ that they are invisible and they are pretty much impossible to paint in any colour that contrasts the body colour. And silver paint on the ‘stainless’ grills just doesn’t do the job. And why would they go to the effort to make an FP and only do it in Milwaukee Road? Now I have to go to the effort of changing the winter hatch, adding a dynamic brake fan, filling in a headlight, adding a freight pilot, installing wire handrails, lift rings and windshield wipers, and painting and… But wait, I’m a model railroader, and modelling is part of the deal, and, actually, I kind of enjoy it.

And the brake shoe detail on Kato’s passenger car trucks looks like suitcases.

[Dwight in Toronto]

Angus, good writeup.  If you read my critique of my Canadian set-up, you will see that I was more harsh.  Like you, I can’t help but wonder how the heck the coaches and the locos made their way throughout the production process without SOMEBODY stumbling upon a “hey, wait a minute, this ain’t right” moment.  Surely there are numerous way-points where an authoritative ‘green light’ is only granted when basic performance expectations are confirmed.

Anyway, yes, it’s a beautiful museum-quality model and I’m grateful that Rapido produced it.  It’s just that the deficiencies were so unnecessary, and so avoidable, and I guess that is my fundamental irritant!

[CBQ Fan]

I think the trade off with Kato’s detail on their locos is their ability to maintain their price point.  Especially when you factor in what detail you can and can’t see when the loco is traversing your layout.